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The plan and arrangement of this edition are essentially the same as those of its predecessor. The type is somewhat enlarged, and more readable; in the quotations and descriptive details, the small but clear letter has been adhered to, so as to comprise an additional amount of exact and authorized illustrative information. Meanwhile, the extent of the more important articles has been considerably augmented, though with the requisite attention to conciseness and facility of reference. Several new articles have been added; others have been re-written and enlarged. Correctness has been the cardinal point throughout the Work; although the many thousand facts, names, and dates contained in this large volume will, it is hoped, be taken into account.

The Preface to the First Edition has been reprinted for the sake of its explanation of the design, which I have here amplified, improved, and rendered more trustworthy as well as entertaining, by the best means and opportunities at my disposal, venerating the injunction of the old poet

"Up into the watch-tower get,

And see all things despoiled of fallacies.”

The Annals of a great City are ofttimes to be traced in the history of its Public Edifices. In the ancient and modern Cathedral, the venerable Minster, and the picturesque Churches of the Metropolis, we not only read the history of its Architecture, but in their "solemn paths of Fame" we trace countless records of our country's greatness.

The Birthplaces and Abodes of eminent Londoners are so many hallowed sites to those who love to cherish the memories of great men. The palace-prison of "the Tower" bears upon its very walls an index to most stirring events in our history.

The Civic Halls of London are stored with memorials of past ages illustrating curious glimpses of manners and artistic skill in their Pictures, Plate, and Painted Glass.

To trace the growth of great centres of population, from the village in the fields to a city of palaces, part of the Great Town itself, leads us through many vivid contrasts of life and manners :-from the times when Southwark was a Roman suburb; Lambeth and Chelsea were Saxon villages; Westminster was a "Thorny Island;" St. Marylebone, a hamlet on the brook; St. Pancras, in the fields; and Finsbury, a swampy moor: all lying around the focus of Roman civilization, the City itself.

Certain localities bear names which "make us seek in our walks the

1

OF

LONDON:

EXHIBITING THE MOST

RARE AND REMARKABLE OBJECTS OF INTEREST IN THE METROPOLIS;

WITH NEARLY

Sixty years' Personal Recollections.

BY JOHN TIMBS, F.S.A.

"I'll see these Things!-They're rare and passing curious."-OLD PLAY.

"I walked up to the window in my dusty black coat, and looking through the glass, saw all the world in yellow, blue, and green, running at the ring of pleasure."-STERNE.

In "the wonderful extent and variety of London, men of curious inquiry may see such modes of life as very few could ever imagine." "The intellectual man is struck with it

as comprehending the whole of human life in all its variety, the contemplation of which is inexhaustible."-BOSWELL'S Life of Johnson.

"The man that is tired of London is tired of existence."-JOHNSON.

A NEW EDITION, CORRECTED AND ENLARGED.

LONDON:

LONGMANS, GREEN, READER, AND DYER.

MDCCC LXVIII.

678

T58

1868

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